UPDATE: Fla. OKs $13 Million Interim Rate Hike For Progress Energy
2009年5月20日 - 5:45AM
Dow Jones News
Florida regulators Tuesday approved Progress Energy's request
for a $13.1 million interim electric rate increase.
The decision will increase the average 1,000-kilowatt-hour
residential bill by 41 cents beginning in July.
Progress Energy Florida, a utility owned by Progress Energy Inc.
(PGN), Raleigh, N.C., said it needed the short-term rate increase
to cover the cost of doing business until the Florida Public
Service Commission decides whether the utility can raise rates by
$500 million in 2010. The increase would allow Progress to recover
costs associated with upgrades to the electric grid and to the
utility's power plants.
Because rate proceedings can take several months, utilities
sometimes ask regulators to approve temporary rate increases. In a
February letter to the Public Service Commission, Jeffrey Lyash,
Progress Energy Florida's president and chief executive, said the
utility "may not be able to continue to provide reliable, efficient
electric service to its customers" without the proposed interim
rate increase.
Progress has invested $4.5 billion in Florida's energy
infrastructure since 1993, but the utility's base rate - the part
of the electric rate covering the general costs of doing business,
excluding fuel expenses - has only risen 1%, the company said.
Much of the Public Service Commission's debate on the proposed
interim rate increase Tuesday centered on whether state regulations
permit a temporary rate increase for the utility.
The Public Service Commission also voted Tuesday to allow
Progress to recover the cost of upgrading its Bartow power plant in
western central Florida to burn natural gas instead of oil. The
project will increase the average 1,000 kwh residential bill by
$4.11 beginning in July.
Progress Energy shares closed at $34.92 Tuesday, up 51 cents, or
1.5%.
-By Christine Buurma, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2061;
christine.buurma@dowjones.com